The Elements of Style

A short book. Great resource for writers.

I received  The Elements of Style: 50th Anniversary Edition  from a very close friend a few years back, and she was someone who understood my love for this book that goes back to my college days in the 1970s. Someone once asked me how I was able to hold a 3.9 average in college back in the post-Vietnam era when as a veteran I was in school and working full time. My answer then is as it is now: "Strunk and White."

But if my friend reads this, I hope that she will accept my apology that I rarely open the cover of this book, yet it's one of my most treasured. It's the accepted 4th edition, and now a collectable in this hardbound version. These days I use a well worn paperback edition,  The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition , which is still accessed at least a few times a week. I just heep this one on a special bookshelf with my most treasured books, and still glance at it when using the paperback.

There are plenty of reviews, both pro and con, posted here on both of the above editions, and I am not as erudite as some of the other reviewers, nor am I an authority. As far as these editions go, Time Magazine listed Strunk & White's 'The Elements of Style' as "one of the 100 best and most influential books written in English since 1923" in their August 30, 2011 issue. But my concern is that there are many editions of "The Elements of Style" listed here on Amazon, both in paper and Kindle editions, yet few of them are what the reader may assume are the real ones.

For example, this  THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE - The Original Edition (Annotated)  may not be the edition that you're looking for. It's one of a number of versions of the original title "The Elements of Style" written by Cornell University English professor William Strunk, Jr., who wrote it 1918. But this is not the version that is also known as "Strunk & White." The product description is incorrect.

There are other Kindle reissues of the 1918 edition, most notably  THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE (UPDATED 2011 EDITION) The All-Time Bestselling Book on Writing English Newly Edited (Special 2011 Edition) The Elements of Style OVER 10 MILLION COPIES SOLD! [Revised ], which notes that it is newly revised and edited by Chris Hong, who is listed in the electronic flyleaf as a former editor at Harvard University, and bears a © 2011 The Elements of Style Press notation. This particular edition does have a slightly better layout on the Kindle, and the table of contents is well hyperlinked, but no mention is made of original author William Strunk, Jr., except for his name on the flyleaf.

Among the other Kindle editions are  The Elements of Style (Original Edition) , with the quill on it's cover is basic, and it costs under a dollar. But if you're going for basic, the  The Elements of Style  edition with its generic cover is a no-cost freebie. And there are other Kindle editions if you search.

The problem with these 1918 editions is that the writing style is dated. Original author Strunk had died in 1946, and in 1959, the publishers commissioned writer and author E. B. White, well known for his  Charlotte's Web , that classic for children, to revise the 41-year-old text. This was was fitting as Strunk had been one of White's professors at Cornell. White's rework of the book was extremely well received, and further editions of the work followed in 1972, 1979, and 1999. White's expansion and modernization of Strunk's original became informally known as Strunk & White. As to whether it's considered a valid part of a writer's bookshelf, more than ten million copies of the three editions of Strunk & White have been sold.

The history of this writing manual can be found in Mark Garvey's  Stylized: A Slightly Obsessive History of Strunk & White's The Elements of Style , which was published in 2009, an excellent book in its own right.

So if you're looking for the real Strunk & White,  The Elements of Style (4th Edition) , by William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White, is one you want, and it's only available in paper editions, except for the rare  The Elements of Style: 50th Anniversary Edition , which is now a collectable. Otherwise, you may enjoy one of the Kindle editions listed here, but think of them more as an interesting background than as contemporary writing style references.

9/11/2012

This is truly a strange book. Some of the advice is outdated or overly specific, reflecting the author's beliefs more than embodying sound writing principals. But, a great deal of the advice is practical, and forces you to look at sentences in a different, more constructive way. It gives a writer the tools to avoid typical pratfalls and weak writing. More than that, though, it has a certain indescribable essence. It shares this quality with the Bible. It's odd, quirky, and dogmatic, and yet writers great and small will come away inspired and enriched, with plenty of useful writing techniques. For good or for bad, its impact on the writing world is undeniable. I highly advise any would-be writer to give it a read, and see where they stand on it.

I believe that every writer needs to read this book in order to be successful.

If you paid attention in (and remember) high school English composition, don't pay more than a buck for this. But I should qualify that I'm a senior citizen with two bright kids who went through school in the late 1980s, and (I dare say) they weren't taught nearly as well as I was back in the '60s and early '70s. So take this review with a grain of salt.

I'm writing this review for the free Kindle version with tan and dark red cover (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005IT0V8O/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_0). This Kindle version has clickable linkage, the Table of Contents is simple and well constructed, and the book is loaded with examples, so it's good to have as a reference for those times when one gets stuck on a cumbersome sentence or an overused word or expression, for suggestions on resolving active/passive voice, and so forth. Beyond that, my best advice for anyone who's already well-versed in grammar and composition is this, from the book's Introductory section:

"... once past the essentials, students profit most by individual instructions based on the problems of their own work...".

In other words, don't expect this book to work miracles. It won't write your book, essay or user guide for you. But as my heading says, I do recommend "Elements" as a desk tool for getting past any nagging nuances/bad habits one may have as a writer, or for attacking specific issues as they arise.

It's a lot thinner than I ever imagined. I mentioned it to a guy I often talk with in the poker room we frequent. He has a copy too. He used it for his doctoral thesis and some professional papers, one of which was published.

He said, "We're probably the only two geeks in here who know about that book."

Classic text. Essential for writers and editors.